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New Wessex
New Wessex, on Gaia, is the United Commonwealth's oldest and most populous extra-solar, colony founded in 2127 and with a population of over sixty million. Today the colony is a popular holiday destination for Commonwealth citizens from Earth and around 3.5% of the colonies 62.5 million colonists are employed in the tourism industry in some way. Colonial History Cromwell City is divided into two distinct zones. The Inner District, also called the Old City,and the Outer City. The Old City covers an area of about seven square kilometres and dates back to the first landings in 2127. The Old City was carefully planned and laid out whilst the Outer City is more sprawling and "organically" laid out with suburbs and municiple areas forming in more random ways. Transport The major population centres of the colony are connected by a high speed (280kph) monorail network with just over five thousand kilometres of track. Smaller settlements are linked via a larger network of lower speed tracks. In addition there are eighteen thousand kilometres of major roads. Cromwell City has a urban light railway known as the Metro which currently consists of fifty eight kilometres of surface tracks and eighteen kilometres of elevated railway. The Metro handles approximately thirty five million passenger journeys a year. Topography and Climate Much of the population live in the area known as the Coastal Strip a 90 to 120 kilometre wide region which consists of rolling hills divided by winding rivers in broad valleys which flow into the Cook Ocean. To the North the land flattens out into the Coastal Plains, a flat, low lying area of salt marshes dotted with pine forests. Behind the Coastal Strip the land rises up to the Central Highlands. Once a volcanic massif covering nearly half a million square kilometres the Highlands are now a vast area of low hills and winding rivers. The Highlands are home to thousands of small estates and agricultural communes as well as many wildlife reserves. The highest point in the colony is found in the Patron mountains in the south west, where several of the peaks reach beyond 4'200m above sea level. The other mountain ranges in the colony, the Hardy Range and the Westshire Peak District, do not reach above 3'100m. The Patrons range is also the only region of the colony to experience any form of tectonic activity on a regular basis. On average there are eight or nine minor tremors in the range every year wth most averaging between 3.2 and 3.4 on the Richter scale. The largest recorded tremor (in 2378) reached 4.4. The Patrons form a rain shadow over the interior creating the central desert of the continent. Known simply as The Barrens, this rocky desert is only partially explored even today. Within New Wessex the Barrens cover 1.25 million square kilometres The longest river in the colony is the Cadwaller River which is 1'827km long, rising in the foothills of the Westshire Peaks and entering the Cook Ocean just south of the resort of Cooktown (both are named after James Cook 1728-1779, the first European to chart the eastern coast of Australia). Generally the Coastal Strip and Cnetral Highlands experience what is considered a Mediterranean climate. Summers are warm and dry with the average temperatures ranging between 50 and 60 degrees F whilst the winters are 15-20 degrees cooler with frequent but light precipitation. The Patron mountain range often experiences heavy snowfall on its higher slopes. During the autumn months the northern coastal regions are often covered by banks of mist during the morning (and sometimes the evening) known locally as ocean smoke Economy and Industry Agriculture ﻿ By far the largest employment field on New Wessex is agriculture, with more than 30% of the population involved directly or indirectly in the production of food. In 2380, for instance, agriculture, including fisheries and forestry, accounted for nearly 50% of the colony's GDP with more than a million tons of food been shipped back to earth every month. In the south of the colony the government controls huge swathes of land given over to agriculture on an industrial scale. Known as Agri-Stations these facilities each cover around four thousand hectares and employ hundreds of people. Large scale live-stock ranches (also known as Cattle Stations) are rare since the costs of freezing and shipping meat to Earth is highly prohibitive. Both native and imported species are farmed on New Wessex. The most important native crops been Miller's pear (actually a berry) and Bodmin grass (a grain similar to rye). The southern, higher, part of the Central Highlands and the lower slopes of the Westshire Mountains are ideal locations for the growing of both coffee beans and tea. Other imported crops and lifestock include corn, dates, goats, and chickens. New Wessex is also famous for its vineyards and wineries, many established by settlers from Australia and New Zealand. There are also many orchards growing apples and pears and the locally brewed cider is notorious for its potency. Manufacturing and Mining Manufacturing on New Wessex is concentrated in Cromwell City and Cooktown. Cromwell City has many small factories producing electrical goods, agricultural machinery, and components for aerospace craft. Cooktown has several small shipyards which build both commercial vessels (including fishing boats) and leisure craft. Cooktown harbour hosts an annual speedboat competition which attracts entrants from across the planet and even from Earth and Ciamverde. Colonial Defence Force Like all mature Commonwealth colonies New Wessex is expected to contribute to its own defence needs. To this end the colony is the headquarters of the 31st (Colonial) Division, an administrative unit which co-ordinates the units which make up the Colonial Defence Force (CDF) The backbone of the CDF are two infantry regiments - the Royal New Wessex Rifles (The Rifles) and the Wyvern Regiment. Each regiment is trained and equipped along standard Commonwealth lines with both having three regular and two territorial battalions each with around 850 officers and men at full strength. The Rifles recruit from the Northern part of the colony whilst the Wyvern Regiment from the South. Plans are underway to raise a third infantry regiment within the next decade. Armour support is provided by a single tank regiment, the Royal Gaian Tank Regiment, with thirty six Claymore tanks, and two Cavalry regiments - the New Wessex Dragoons and the 1st Royal Colonial Lancers, each fielding 38 Scimitar light tanks plus attached mechanical and electrical engineering units. Finally the 31st Division controls a number of support and logistics units - the 313th Regiment, Royal Engineers, the 29th Regiment, Royal Signals, the 118th Regiment, REME, and the 2011th Field Hospital. Around half the troops for these units are Territorials. Air defence and artillery support for the CDF come form units deployed from Earth although there are plans to form an artillery regiment on New Wessex soon. Between them the forces of the New Wessex CDF form the 31st, 32nd and 33rd Brigades of the Commonwealth Army. Reinforcing these units are two divisions worth of troops from Earth Category:Colonies Category:UC Colonies Category:Gaia